So he had watched his lead at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans evaporate and return Sunday by the time he walked up to the 18th tee at TPC Louisiana with the tournament his to lose.

The heavy hitters trying to catch Kelly all went for the green in two, knowing they needed to at least birdie to possibly force Kelly into a playoff or even take the title away from the Wisconsin native. Kelly doesn't mash the ball like many of the other PGA Tour pros, so he stuck with what worked all week at the 576-yard par 5.

Kelly wanted to stay away from the fairway bunkers where the hole makes a slight jag right. Kelly probably wouldn't have reached them anyway.

"Any time the pin is in the back for me, there's no sense in (going for the green in two), " Kelly said. "I'm not a long hitter, so I would have been hitting utility or 3-wood. Never would have held the green, and I would have had to sling it out over the water to get it on the angle of the flag. Otherwise it would have been in the bunker."

The pin placement, back left, was probably the most difficult of the week. If any shot fell short, a bunker ate it up, and several players found out the hard way that going for the green in two might not be the smartest idea. Charles Howell III and Charlie Wi, who finished tied for second, both tried for the green in two and ended up making par.

Kelly took the greenside bunker out of the equation by laying up with a 4-iron and then used his wedge and putter to clinch the title.

"So we put a lot of thought into it, " Kelly said. "And I knew you get me right in front of that bunker, which is where I was hoping that 4-iron was going . . . it ended up laying back a bit farther. But I knew it would just be a bump-and-run, and that was my favorite shot. So I played into my strengths the way I played that."

The stroll down the 18th fairway was a little different for crowd favorite and former LSU golfer David Toms.

Toms roared back into contention Sunday with four consecutive birdies on the front nine and finished at 12-under-par 276. But regardless of Toms' score, the reception he receives annually from the Zurich Classic crowd at 18 always makes him feel at home.

"It's fun, " Toms said. "It's the only time it will happen for me all year. So that one week out of the other 45 weeks that we play. It's neat, you know. They kept me in there all week. (Saturday) I had a chance to kind of finish way back n the pack, and the crowd kept me in there and kept me focused."